Ethereum and Base Diverge on Account Abstraction Standards

Ethereum and Base are pursuing different native account abstraction paths after a previously sought shared standard failed to materialize. This divergence could have practical consequences for wallet developers, potentially requiring support for multiple transaction formats to deliver a consistent user experience across networks.

Derek Chiang, an EthLabs researcher and co-author of Ethereum's EIP-8141, warned that interoperability standards have taken a back seat to each chain's primary goals. He framed the divergence as a shift in where the compatibility work will land, with wallets now bearing the burden.

Ethereum is progressing account abstraction under EIP-8141 via 'Frame Transactions' as part of its Hegotá upgrade plan, while Base is implementing native account abstraction through Keystore, aligned with EIP-8130 and already live on devnet. This divergence reflects a broader tension between L1 priorities around security and resistance themes vs. L2 alignment with scalability-oriented standards.

Account abstraction is designed to move transaction logic out of fixed protocol rules and into programmable authorization mechanisms, enabling more flexible transaction policies. However, as AA becomes native to more chains, standardization becomes increasingly important for the application layer. When chains choose different AA schemes, wallet software often becomes the integration point, forcing developers to map user actions into multiple formats or maintain separate signing and fee-handling flows.